From the day the announcement was made about holding a peace summit in Budapest, it was clear that many would do everything in their power to prevent it from happening. Pro-war political elites and their media outlets always behave this way before events that could be decisive for war or peace.
Redaksiya reports that on October 20, Marko Rubio and Sergey Lavrov held a phone conversation. According to press reports, this conversation was not very successful. As The Wall Street Journal wrote, the Russian Foreign Minister's comments confirmed the American administration's suspicions: Russia is not ready to conclude an agreement. In the White House, they started talking about canceling the summit.
On October 21, several Western media outlets reported that the summit between US President Donald Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, scheduled to be held in Budapest, had been canceled. However, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto stated that this was not true. Last week, the US President had announced that he would meet with Putin in Budapest in the near future. He had not specified a concrete date. On October 23, US Secretary of State Marko Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were expected to meet to discuss preparations for the summit, but this will not happen, the press writes.
According to him, "the same thing" happens almost before every European Council meeting, before decisions on sanctions or the European Peace Facility are adopted. At the same time, he hinted that the summit between the US and Russian leaders would take place, but did not specify when. An unnamed European official stated that "Apparently, the Russians wanted too much, and it became clear to the Americans that Trump would not achieve any agreement in Budapest."
The Reuters report noted that the meeting's holding could have been jeopardized due to Russia's unwillingness to agree to an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine. He noted, "Until the summit takes place, expect leaks, fake news, and statements that it will not happen." Szijjarto insists that the summit will still take place, but has not specified when.